Pulldown calendar



' May 4, 1-943. w. FIVERNON 2,318,546

PULL-DOWN CALENDAR Filed Oct. 21, 1940 w i3 I Patented May 4, 1943 U N IT E D STATE S PAT OF Flilc PULLDOWN William Vernon, Newton; Iowa Application October-21, 19403 Seriaf No. 3621035 3 Claims.

This invention relates to a combination display and information device, and while not particularly limited thereto, it is particularly adapted to a mounting by which a calendar pad or-other legend card may be secured to a picture insuch a manner as to be normally concealed but instantly available for examination.

It has been common practice for many years to provide framed pictures provided with small calendar pads depending from the lower edge of the frame, but to the best of the applican-ts knowledge, these have always been objectionable due to the unsightly appearance of the celend'ar pad. This unsightly appearance of the pad maybe caused by repeated handling, which causes'curling of the individual calendar sheets, or by ragged edges which are exposed to View when some of these sheets are torn from the pad. Some of the prior art' structures have been further objectionable since in certain cases the pads were loosely connected to the; pictureframe by a cord or ribbon in such a manner" that the pad could tilt to one-side or another and was free to twist, reverse itself orfiutterin response tomoving currents of air inthe room.

It is, therefore; the primary object ofthis invention to provide a combination display and information device including a sliding connection to permit the information device to be shifted between an exposed position below the picture and a position in which the information device is concealed directly behind the picture.

A further object of the invention is toprovide a sliding connection including friction means toretain the information sheet in a concealed position and limiting stops to accurately predetermine the correct exposed position and to maintain the information device in horizontal present application overcomes objections to the prior art structure by providing a horizontal slot in the calendar pad arranged to encircle a vertical tab which is preferably formed by diecutting the rear cover sheet of thepicture;

Referring now more particularly t'o thed'rawring:

Fig; I is a front elevational view of a com bination picture and; calendar constructed, in accordance with the principles of this invention and showingthe calendar in exposed posittion; i

Fig. 2" is a rear elevational viewof the device illustrated in Fig: I showing the calendar its concealedposition;

Fig;- 3 an enlarged vertical sectional" view taken substantiallyon the-plane of the line33 in Fig. 2.

The display device orpicture chosen-- for the purpose of illustration of" the principles of this invention consists of a base sheet I U and a-- glass panel I I betweerrwhichthe display sheets l'2- and I3 are-positioned; It wilrbe-und'erstood; of course, that the display sheets may be; of any conventional form, but ithas" become commonpractice to providethe rea-r display sheet: I 2 spaced apart from the-forward display sheet l'3 by a die-cut filler pad l4 in order tngive'an appearance of depth to the picture and also in order" to provide space inwhich another infer mation' device, as, for example,- the: thermometer l5, may be positioned? 'Ifd'esiredthe picture may bealsoprovided" with anrear cover sheet l6 and arranged in amargihal frame l1. As illustrated} the frame l l comprises a metal band folded to secure tneemmentsl t}. l l' I2 IE, lidand I6 between a-front flainge lfl and a rear flange Iii and tab 21 is providd' to penc trat'e the-perforation (not; shown): order- 17d secure: the frame in a position aboutthe picture:

The: information device oi 'calendar'fi com prises a backing sheet;- 2 6 on: which a=p1ur-a lity I of calendar leaves 21' are secured as by the stitching. 28. The backing sheet; 26 is: prefer-- ably bounded by: a lior izoizitall lower edge- 31 verticali side edges 32 and and inclined side edges; 3'41 and" 35 joined attheir upper extremities-bya horizontal top edge: 36; The: sheet is: also. provided a horizontal perforation-i 01!" slot; 31 located slightly? ab'ove the' uppen ex tremities of the calendar pages 21. Theslot 31 comprises one element of the sliding, connection by: which: the: informationdevice 25 1's supported and this slot: 311* is arranged to encircle 7 the? talb 41 dle cutfrom the rearcover' sheet I 62 Prefer=-- abl y this die-cut comprises two-vertical slits 4 2 and 43 joined at their upper extremities by a connecting slit it to define the vertical edges: and top of thetab; Theslit's 42 and 43 are prefer-ably terminated short of-- the" lower edge" of therearcover sheet, as atthe points 45; so that as: the calendar backing-sheet 2 6% iSf'IbW ered into the exposed posit-ionv illustrated in Fig';

points 45 and 46 constitute two spaced-apartlimit stops and will prevent any angular shifting of the calendar with respect to the picture.

The upper end of the tab 4| is preferably secured in position by a wire staple 41 arranged to hold the upper end of the tab 4| in clinching engagement with the back sheet H). The staple 41 may be so positioned as to limit the upward movement of the calendar so that when the calendar is manually raised to conceal its position, its motion may be arrested immediately after the lower edge of the calendar pad moves above the lower edge of the picture.

When. in this position it will be appreciatedthat the calendar is available for immediate examination by simply reaching behind the picture frame and drawing the backing sheet 26 downwardly, but unless some effort is applied to the backing sheet, the calendar will remain in raised position, since the portion of the sheet above the slot 41 is in frictional engagement between the, inner surface of the tab 4| and the rear surface of the backing sheet It). It will be noted by; an examination of Fig. 3 that since the backing sheet l and the tab 4| are clinched together by thestaple 41, these two thicknesses of material are caused to converge and form tapered wedging surfaces at the point 48. Thus, as the upper edge 35 of the sheet 26 approaches the staple 41, it will be engaged by the tapered surfacesat 48 to afiord an increased frictional connection effective to maintain, the calender i raised position.

The frictional action of the structure at this point is supplemental to the friction exerted near the upper end of the inclined edges 34 and 35 at the point where these edges intersect the vertical slits 42 and 43, respectively.

It will be appreciated that since the tab 4|,is die cut from the backing sheet l6 and is secured in the same plane as the sheet I6 at both the top and bottom'extremities, it will flex slightly in the intermediate portion and will thus effect a small shearing action applyinga small amount of friction at the points 5| and 52. In this connection it may be pointed out that a similar frictional resistance is applied as the, calendar is moved to its completely exposed position, for at this time the upperedge of the slot 31 approaches the lower end of the slits 42 and 43, and since the surfaces of the cover sheet l6 and the tab 4| divergefrom the same plane at the lower extremity of the sheet, these surfaces will converge to constitute tapered wedging surfaces in frictional vengagement with the backing sheet 26 of .the calender.

'From the above description it will be seen that while the calendar pad is completely concealed inits raised position, it is quite readily available for inspection, since practically its entire surface is exposed on the rear of the picture frame where it may be conveniently reached and drawn into the exposed position. This, of course, eliminates the necessity of any ribbons or auxiliary means to draw the calendar from its concealed location. It will also be seen that when the calendar is in raised position, it is held against accidental displacement by a frictional action of the tapered wedging surfaces and when lowered to the exposed position, it is positively stopped in exact horizontal alignment by means of the spaced-apart limit stops at 45 and 46 and is further frictionally secured by the wedging action exerted on the upper edge of the slot 31 as this slot approached the lower extremities of the slits 42 and 43. It is appreciated, of course, that the tab 4| may be made of any width desired although it has been illustrated as relatively wide in order that the inclined side edges 34 and 35 may extend under the tab. This feature provides convenience in packing since the assembled pictures may be slid into paper cartons, etc., without danger of having the edges of the calendar catch and tear on the edges of the carton.

In practice it has been found preferable to form the tab 4| in the manner shown, but it may be pointed out that an equivalent structure may be constructed by reversing the tab so that it is integral with the cover sheet at its upper end said base sheet including a pair of spaced-apart vertical slits joined at their upper extremities by a connecting slit, the lower extremities of each of said vertical slits terminating short of the lower edge of the rear cover sheet to provide a pair of spaced-apart stops for the aforementioned information element; the cover sheet including a vertical tab defined by said slits, anchor means near the upper end of said tab comprising a staple securing the tab to the base sheet in faceto-face relation to provide tapered wedging surfaces to secure the information element at the upper end of the tab; the information element comprising a sheet having a horizontal slot in said sheet encircling the aforementioned tab to secure the information element in sliding relationship with respect to the base sheet, the edges of the information element including a free horizontal lower edge, free vertical side edges adjoining said lower edge, and a top edge joined by inclined edges extendingunder the surface of the tab.

2. A display device of the character described comprising a display element and an information element in slidable engagement therewith, the display element comprising a base sheet, a vertical tab, anchor means near the upper end of said tab securing the tab to the base sheet, tapered wedging surfaces to secure the information ele ment at the upper end of the tab; the information element comprising a sheet having a horizontal slot in said sheet encircling the aforementioned tab to secure the information element in sliding relationship with respect to the base sheet, and additional anchor means adjacent the lower end of the tab to secure the tab to the base sheet and to limit the downward sliding movement of the information element.

3. A display device of the character described comprising a display element and an information element in slidable engagement therewith, the display element comprisinga base sheet, a rear cover sheet superimposed on'the rear surface of said'base sheet and including a pair of spacedapart vertical slits, a pair of spaced-apart stops for the aforementioned information element adjacent the lower ends of said slits, the cover sheet including a vertical tab defined by said slits, anchor means for said tab securing the tab to the base sheet in face-to-face relation to provide tapered wedging surfaces to secure the information element at the upper end of the tab;

.the information element comprising a sheet having a horizontal slot in said sheet encircling the aforementioned tab to. secure the information WILLIAM F. VERNON. 

